The present invention relates broadly to a code-setting apparatus and in particular to a keygun code keying apparatus having a plurality of possible code key settings.
In the vast area of air traffic control utilizing radar control beacons, such as the Mark XII SIF system for the identification of friendly military aircraft on a worldwide basis, there has been incorporated an electronic recognition feature entitled Mode 4. Mode 4 utilizes a crypto device which is installed in all aircraft and must be keyed with a hand-held keygun. This keygun has a plurality of pins each of which may be set at any one of a number of positions. The keygun is set for aircrews by Tactical Communications personnel from preprinted keylist extracts. A problem area exists in the setting of these guns since approximately five minutes are required to key and check the keygun. Even with checking, the chances for error are considerable with more than one thousand possible combinations per keygun. The present invention provides a keying device to key the keyguns rapidly and with a high degree of accuracy.